Driveway Parking Tips

Wanted to see how many of you guys are parking your raptor outside in the driveway?? Sounds silly, but our garage is too small, so I'm left to driveway (which is mostly in the sun).

I'm in Northern California, so the elements are not too bad, but mostly wondering if people are doing anything to cover their trucks, etc.

I understand there will be a population of "hey its a truck, rub some dirt on it", but I also like keeping it clean for longevity!

There is A LOT of guys who can't fit their trucks in a garage. Thankfully mine fits in fine on the one side, it's just really tight in width as I pull through the garage door frame. I would at least want a portable garage type cover, if you had room for it.

If it has to be outside with no coverage, I would at least get ceramic tint on all your windows to keep the UV out of your interior.

If it has to be outdoors I'd recommend getting it ceramic coated if it's within your budget or at least get it and keep it waxed with a carnuba based wax. Either of those options will at least provide a barrier between the paint and whatever debris might get on the paint.

At least in SJ you won't have to worry about rain so much, just pollen, dust and road film.

+1 to @Oldfart on tinting recommendation and I'd also do a leather conditioner/sealer to make sure everything stays black and resistant to UV damage.

My ‘18 is outdoors full time. I had a full xpel wrap done when new and use a windshield sunscreen.

Sun in the interior seems to be the killer. Keep the sun out and your truck should be AOK.

Best of luck

Thank you thank you….

anybody cover their truck while not in use with the cloth covers??

Pitboss02 said:

Thank you thank you….

anybody cover their truck while not in use with the cloth covers??

Click to expand...

Never on my truck, but for quite a few years if it wasn't forecasted to rain and I took one of my good cars to our shop, I would cover it with a California Car Cover for the day. It kept the cars very well protected. The only pain in the *** was if it rained. Did that with a 911 and a V70R for many years. It keeps the car cool and the interior like new.

I never put a cover on a truck, I would think it would be pretty hard to do because of the height. On a car, you typically throw it across the roof and unroll it from the middle to the ends. It's pretty quick and easy once you do it a few times.

Pitboss02 said:

Thank you thank you….

anybody cover their truck while not in use with the cloth covers??

Click to expand...

just keep in mind that pulling the cover over it will basically take any dirt on it and grind it into the clear coat. Personally I think it's better left alone with good wax or other coating and just use a good wash method when it's bath time

Besides keeping the truck waxed/sealed, windows tinted, and using a windshield screen, the direction you park can make a difference. My driveway faces east/west with my house on the east side. So if I point the truck towards the house, the windshield is partially shaded for much of the morning by the house. the afternoon hits the rear window, which I'm less concerned about.

On a slightly different concern about driveway parking, if your driveway is 2 cars wide, you might want to look into having it widened. Sure, you can trust other drivers at your house not to give you door dings...maybe, but it's nice not to have to walk on the grass to get to the door, or squeeze in to avoid hitting another vehicle. Having a good 4 feet of space between vehicles is very nice.

I used to have 2 garage doors that my Raptor would not have fit through, with brick in between them, it wouldn't have been cheap to remove and have a 17' wide door custom made, but fortunately for me, my wife backed her Cadillac through the brick and doors, therefor creating the perfect scenario for my insurance to pay for it all. Yes.....that is a true story, over 7k in damage to the car and 20ish to the house, I love that woman............

Got the important stuff in the garage, sorry truck! Lol